View source for Francis Nicholson (painter)

{{short description|British artist (1753-1844)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Francis Nicholson by Francis Nicholson.jpg|right|thumb|Self-portrait of Francis Nicholson, circa 1837]]
'''Francis Nicholson''' (14 November 1753 – 6 March 1844) was a British artist. He worked in watercolour and oil, and is mainly known as a landscape artist.<ref>{{cite DNB |first=Albert |last=Nicholson|wstitle=Nicholson, Francis (1753-1844)|display=Nicholson, Francis (1753–1844) |volume=41 |pages=14–15}}</ref>
[[Image:Chur-Coire by Francis Nicholson (1753-1844).jpg|thumb|right|''Chur-Coire'' by Francis Nicholson]]
==Early life==
Nicholson was born in [[Pickering, North Yorkshire|Pickering]], [[North Yorkshire]].
==Career==
Nicholson studied with a local artist in [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], before beginning his career in his native Pickering, producing sporting pictures and portraits for a variety of Yorkshire patrons. By the mid-1780s he was also making paintings of country houses, leading him to concentrate on landscapes in watercolour.
From 1789, he contributed views of both Yorkshire and Scotland to exhibitions at the [[Royal Academy]]. He also supplied topographical views for the [[Copper Plate Magazine]].
He contributed "Views of England",<ref>[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bebopalilo/wa_links_abbeychurch.htm Nicholson] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512053317/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bebopalilo/wa_links_abbeychurch.htm |date=12 May 2008 }}</ref> in collaboration with the engraver [[Francis Jukes]] to "The Beauties of England and Wales", Author: Britton, John & Edward Wedlake Brayley - A book published in 18 volumes from 1801 to 1815.<ref name="french-engravings">{{cite web|url=http://www.french-engravings.com/product_info.php?products_id=5681|title=Antique Prints &#124; St Vincent's Rock - Clifton - Glocestershire (England) &#124; Copper engraving &#124; 1806|website=french-engravings.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="baynton-williams">{{cite web|url=http://www.baynton-williams.com/richmond.htm|author=Miles Baynton-Williams|title=Baynton-Williams|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref>
Although his market increasingly became London-based, Nicholson continued to live in Yorkshire - at [[Whitby]], [[Knaresborough]] and [[Ripon]]. He did not move to London until about 1803. In 1804, he became a founder-member of the [[Royal Watercolour Society|Society of Painters in Watercolours]], and was a regular and prolific contributor to its exhibitions.
==Later life==
He wrote a handbook, ''The practice of drawing and painting landscape from nature, in water colours'', which was published in 1820. It sold out and a second edition followed in 1823.<ref>Francis Nicholson. ''The practice of drawing and painting landscape from nature, in water colours: exemplified in a series of instructions, with observations on the study of nature, and various other matters relative to the arts.'' J. Murray. London, 1823.</ref> Nicholson died in London and is buried there in [[Brompton Cemetery]].
==Legacy==
His c. 1837 self-portrait is in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom)|National Portrait Gallery]]. He is known as the Father of water colour painting and also as an early pioneer of lithography, and was much admired by Turner. In October 2012 Pickering and district Civic Society erected a Blue Plaque in his memory on 3 Hungate Pickering. His daughter [[Marianne Croker]] was an artist, poet and author, and married [[Thomas Crofton Croker]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Commonscat-inline|Francis Nicholson}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1753 births]]
[[Category:1844 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Brompton Cemetery]]
[[Category:18th-century English painters]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:19th-century English painters]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:English landscape painters]]
[[Category:People from Pickering, North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:English watercolourists]]
[[Category:19th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:18th-century English male artists]]